Broken and Insane
by dxisychain
Summary: - In which we see seven teenagers struggling with mental issues. - In which we take notice of these challenges some have to face - In which we see ourselves in the character - And in which we question ourselves: Do I really want to be part of 'society?
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:**

**Leo Valdez** \- Age 16 - Pyromania - Schizophrenia - Disorganized Subtype

**Piper McLean** \- Age 16 - Eating Disorders - Anorexia and Bulimia - Kleptomania

**Jason Grace** \- Age 16 - Social Anxiety/Anxiety Disorder - Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)

**Hazel Grace** \- Age 13 - Dysmorphia - Sleep Terror Disorder

**Frank Zhang** \- Age 15 - Insomnia - Morbid Jealousy of Others

**Annabeth Chase** \- Age 17 - Severe Separation Anxiety Disorder - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

**Percy Jackson** \- Age 17 - Clinical Depression - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - Panic Disorder

* * *

**Additional Notes**:

_\- No additional notes -_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes: **

_\- In which we learn about Annabeth Chase and why her days must be the same_

_\- As we grasp a better understanding of OCD and separation anxiety_

_\- Her attachment to Percy Jackson_

* * *

**\- Annabeth Chase -**

I didn't choose to be like this. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. I know that others have learned to live with it and accept it, but I haven't and I never will. And the fact that I have OCD and separation anxiety with a person I barely know just makes me feel like a lunatic.

Why did I have to be born with this? I don't get it. Why me? It's not just something that can be fixed. It's a literal problem that will always be with me.

It's a literal problem that will always make me different and separate me from the others and we all know how much I love to be separated, don't we?

But seriously though. I'm sick of this. Ever since grade six people have been acting like I'm a contagious decease or something. I'm not contagious, am I? Oh, god, please tell me I'm not contagious.

_\- You aren't contagious, Annabeth. You're just different. Can you tell me why you can't accept that? -_

Because society can't accept it! If my friends treat me like a parasite and if everyone else avoids me then I won't want to accept my differences! Everyone is the same. This world has standards and if you don't meet those standards then you know what will happen to you.

And if the world won't accept me then I might as well become a hermit and read books all my life because no one else wants a freaky OCD girl with separation anxiety around. It doesn't matter that I'm smart! It's-it's like racism.

Actually, no, do you know what it is? It's exclusion.

And I don't like it.

* * *

_**\- Day 1: Tuesday, May 11**_

_**\- 9:23 AM**_

"It's the eleventh," Annabeth moaned as she leaned down on the table, staring at the orange juice in Percy's plastic cup.

He laughs shortly and replies, "What's wrong with the eleventh? You're always complaining about it and I don't exactly understand why." He picks up his cup and swallows the last of the orange juice before putting it back in front of Annabeth's face.

She sits up again and gives him a look that says, 'Oh my god, have you been living under a rock?' He gives her a small, toothless smile and she says, "Eleven is just such a horrible number. It can't be divided by two and everything about it is just plain ugly. Just the fact that it's two ones which are a horrible number makes it a mistake! The only slightly nice thing about it is maybe how it can be mirrored nicely."

Percy laughed again, but this time it sounds slightly forced and his heart isn't in it. Annabeth doesn't call him out on it though and instead looks over to Piper and Hazel - who sit across from Percy and her. Piper is picking at her food like usual and Hazel is only eating a small portion of the really healthy stuff - which is basically a glass of water and some fruit with maybe some granola thrown in there.

Percy on the other hand practically inhales three chocolate chip pancakes, five glasses of orange juice and a mountain of whipped cream. Out of the four of them, Annabeth's plate probably looked the most normal for the typical seventeen year old.

"Hey, Piper, where's Jason this morning?" she asks, looking around. She doesn't see any of their friends that morning, which was odd because they always started out their days with breakfast together and the fact that today was not going like usual irritated Annabeth beyond belief.

Piper shrugged and pushed her plate away. "Probably in his room still. He's probably having one of those days and you can't blame him, Doctor McGuire was being really forceful about him getting out of his comfort zone yesterday. I think he's still recovering from last nights traumatizing events."

Traumatizing wasn't very traumatizing - unless you were Jason. Jason was an exception for Annabeth's daily routines. He wasn't much of a people person and he often had to have alone time. Especially if Doctor McGuire is particularly hard. And it seemed as if last nights session with the therapist threw Jason miles out of his comfort zone.

"Okay, well I can understand why Jason isn't here," Annabeth said slowly. "But what about Frank and Leo? Where are they? They can easily come for breakfast! It isn't a hard task!"

Upon the raising of her voice, Percy flinches and she freezes, watching him carefully. His eyes are closed and his face is pale. She can't tell if he's about to have a panic attack or not, but you can never really tell with them. So she just waits - as do Hazel and Piper - to see if her outburst brought out a bad memory of Percy's.

It doesn't and Annabeth lets out a sigh of relief when Percy recovers and shakes off invisible cobwebs. The four continue to eat their breakfast together and the longer they take the more tense Annabeth becomes. She needs to find Frank and Leo to at least fix the daily routine a little bit.

"I think Frank might be sedated actually," Hazel mentions. "He hasn't slept a wink for a few nights and it was getting pretty bad. And Leo's probably trying to set something on fire."

Annabeth sighed loudly and pushed her chair back away from the table. She would just have to find out herself. So she drops her plate in the tub as she leaves and then flings open the doors. There's no one in the halls except for the occasional worker. They looked at her briefly but didn't pay her much mind. Annabeth wasn't difficult often. It was only when she threw tantrums such as this one.

"Where's Frank, Leo and Jason?" she asked, storming up to a man in the ugly hospital ware. He smiled at Annabeth and asked her, "How are you this morning?"

"I'm good, except for the fact that my day is already ruined!" Annabeth cried, face turning red. She sighed angrily a second time and spun around on her heel. Then she saw Leo, grinning at her. She glared darkly and demanded, "Where were you this morning?"

"Chill, I was just talking to Jason. He said he'll come out around lunch and if he doesn't we're supposed to go get him," Leo said. He shifts his feet and glances around. Annabeth continues to glower darkly and asked, "What about Frank? Where is he?"

Leo shrugged his shoulders and nibbled on his thumbnail, giving Annabeth an innocent look. She rolled her eyes and turned around, calling, "I'm going to get ready for the day."

She didn't get very far before she froze and looked over her shoulder at the cafeteria. She felt a cold stone drop into her stomach and she glowered.

He can't come into the girls wing. You do this everyday. You force yourself to leave him and to get ready. You'll be fine. He'll be fine. Just hurry up and get ready for the day, Annabeth thought to herself. She pulled herself away from the cafeteria and forced herself to go down the halls to the girls wing of the hospital.

This was always the worst part of the day. When Annabeth had to get ready for the day and when he had to as well. Annabeth usually had to be by herself for half an hour or more and she didn't like it very much.

* * *

_**\- 9:57 AM**_

Thirty-three minutes and sixteen seconds was how long Annabeth had to wait that morning. She was hovering just outside the doors to the guys wing; waiting impatiently for him to come out. He was taking extra long today and it was putting Annabeth on edge.

Finally the doors opened and he came out. Annabeth flung her arms around his neck then quickly pulled away, trying to calm her racing heart. "What took you so long?" she asked him.

Percy gave a shrug. "I tried talking Jason into coming out of his room, didn't go over so well. C'mon, let's go to first activity, Leo's probably waiting for us." He started down the hall and Annabeth followed closely behind. She glanced back at the boys wing even though there was no one there.

"Is his sister with him?" she asked.

Jason's sister - Thalia Grace or as they had to call her, Miss Grace - had worked at the psychiatric hospital since her brother had been put here. She wasn't very old, maybe 25 give or take a few years and most of the time she was with Jason, trying to get him to socialize with the others. Sometimes it worked, but most of the time it didn't.

As the two walked, Annabeth would glance down at Percy's arms occasionally and try to imagine the dark scars that were underneath the long sleeved shirt he was wearing. She knew about the scars there; she also knew there were more scars hidden under his clothes. Annabeth blinked and shook her head, forcing herself not to be nosy.

When they reached the art room Percy opened the door and allowed Annabeth in first. She ducked through the entrance and sat down at one of the tables - across from Leo. He was drawing a picture. A messy, disorganized one and some of the things on it were concerning.

"Hey, Leo," Annabeth said. She grabbed a sheet of graph paper from the centre of the table and a pencil. She wasn't expecting Leo to answer; he never did really. His thoughts were too scrambled and a lot of the time he was stuck in his own head. And yet he was a hilarious person.

Percy sat down beside Annabeth. He was silent and it was worrying Annabeth. She looked down at the table and tapped a finger rapidly. She was itching to not straighten everything on the table and make it symmetric. But the OCD got the best of her and she reached across the table and fixed everything.

Once everything was how she liked it, Annabeth began drawing. She was really into architect and she loved to draw buildings that were exactly symmetrical. Someday (if she ever got out of here) she was going to design world wide structures that everyone would admire and come from all across the world to see.

For now though, her only goal was to get over her separation anxiety and over her insane OCD. She wondered what she would do when she got out. Would she just go back to her normal life? Would she be able to?

"What did Jason say to you?" Annabeth asked in attempt to start a conversation. She looked over at him and he was dragging jagged nails down his thighs as if he wanted to hurt himself. Annabeth grabbed his wrist to stop him, but he jerked away.

"I just tried to get him to come out of his room and then he started to panic so his sister made me leave. He didn't really say anything except for 'leave me alone' when he began to panic," Percy said. He twirled a piece of clay in his fingers then flattened it on the table.

Annabeth knew that he didn't want to talk anymore, so for the rest of the hour they worked in silence together with only the occasional words from Leo. But he wasn't talking to Annabeth or Percy. So Annabeth ignored him.

* * *

**Additional Notes: **

_\- Annabeth Chase shows signs of independence but still stays near Percy as often as possible. Cannot go extended periods without_

_\- No changes in OCD _

_\- Prescribe new medication? _

_ **\- Dr. Henry McGuire**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:**

_\- In which we learn about the dangers of eating disorders_

_\- Learning how to properly pickpocket a human without getting caught or looking suspicious_

_\- Dealing with our fellow pyromaniacs_

* * *

**\- Piper McLean - **

It wasn't my idea to become anorexic or bulimic as ridiculous as it might sound. I was happy with my body. I was confident. It wasn't me. It was _them_. I was just the target. They made me like this. Not me.

It probably started around the end of grade nine. The anorexia, I mean. People would call me fat and a pig and basically anything they could. I hated myself after that. I needed to be skinny. I needed to be like the other girls.

They were perfect and I was not.

So I stopped eating. It wasn't very hard because it worked. And since it worked it motivated me. I watched as my weight dropped and I watched as my body became fragile. But it didn't really seem good enough, you know? So I figured why not shove a finger down my throat and speed up the weight loss process?

I think I kept this up for about a year and a half. Then my parents found out and I was sent here.

_Do these actions make you feel better about yourself, Piper?_

No, of course not. But that doesn't really matter, does it? It's not how I feel. It what others think. That's what society does. How society acts. So if me slowly killing myself pleases society, then I'm in the green.

Society's a cruel thing, isn't it?

* * *

**_\- Day 1: Tuesday, May 11_**

**_\- 11:46 AM_**

"Jason? It's me, Piper, can I come in?" Piper asked through the door of Jason's room. She remembered Leo saying that Jason had asked him to get Jason before lunch, so since Piper figured since Leo was off having some sort of schizophrenic episode she would be the one to get Jason.

Piper waited for Jason's reply, but none came. Instead the door opened and he looked out into the hall at her. She gave him a soft smile and he opened the door wider, silently offering if she wanted to come in.

Piper carefully entered the room, paying close attention that she didn't touch him. Physical contact was sometimes a trigger for Jason and it seemed like Piper was the only one who remembered.

She sat down on his bed and looked at the clock on his bedside table. After a few seconds of silence she spoke up. "You wanna come for lunch?"

Jason sat down across from Piper on Frank's bed. He took a few minutes to consider the answer, but Piper was patient and didn't stress Jason. Decisions were hard for him.

"I guess I'll come," he replied.

Piper smiled and rubbed her bony fingers on her thin legs. The jeans were loose, even though they were the smallest Piper could get. She didn't mind it though. She felt skinny and like the other girls.

The only difference was that the others girls weren't in a mental ward. And they looked healthy and pretty, where Piper was just sickly and unappealing. Her hair had grown extra thin and her head didn't seem proportionate for her body anymore. She was constantly tired and bags were always under her eyes.

Piper was not normal. And she certainly was no longer pretty.

Piper shoved the thoughts out of her head and stood up again. She smoothed out her shirt - which just hung around her body - and tilted a head towards the door. Jason's hands were shaking but he pressed them tightly to his legs to muffle the trembling.

"Has Frank come by the room yet?" Piper asked, looking over. She had seen the big teddy bear around 10:30 but only briefly. Since then no one has seen him. Piper had guessed he went back to his and Jason's room to change.

Jason shook his head. "No. Well, he might have. If he did I was probably too busy having an anxiety attack to notice. What did you have for breakfast?"

Piper was about to respond when another girl in the ward - Tanya - screamed and starting stomping her foot. Jason flinched and froze in the spot. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep breaths. His face was pale and Piper watched as a couple workers grabbed ahold of Tanya and held her while they tried to soothe her.

"Just go around them," Piper muttered to Jason. She let him go in front of her and Jason quickly went around, creating a wide berth and then entering the cafeteria. Piper frowned. She had been hoping to find Annabeth or Leo before going into the cafeteria. But she had been the one to drag Jason out of his room, so she figured she would have to let him do what he was comfortable with.

Which wasn't really a lot.

Piper opened the cafeteria doors and saw Jason already seated at a table in the corner with his head down on his arms. They were the only two in the cafeteria since lunch didn't start for another 12 minutes. She went over and pulled up a chair.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Jason was blushing deeply, looking embarrassed. He wiped his shaky palms on his jeans and laughed nervously. "I'm fine. I overreacted. Sorry. 'M fine." He didn't _look_ or _sound_ fine, but Piper knew better than to question him. So she turned the attention onto her.

"You asked me what we had for breakfast before. Well," she said, tapping her chin. "There were pancakes, fruit, granola, whipped cream and orange juice and milk. I just had a few slices of an orange though. Percy practically ate the whole food table."

"You need to eat more than a few slices of an orange," Jason said. He blushed even more and Piper wished he didn't feel so awkward speaking to her. But she could understand why he felt awkward telling her to eat more. She felt awkward just hearing it.

The two of them were silent for a long time. Neither feeling comfortable to speak.

* * *

**_\- 12:15 PM_**

"Hey, Jason," Annabeth said, smiling as she sat down beside Percy; who was sitting beside Jason. Piper looked over at Jason. She'd glanced at him every time someone spoke to him. He didn't get anxiety from talking to people, but sometimes conversations took a wrong turn and things could get very bad very fast.

Piper looked at her plate and felt her stomach flip uneasily. There was no way she could eat all this. She shoved the food she wouldn't eat to the edge of her plate then poked at the remaining food. All it was was a small amount of salad. At least that she could handle.

Frank sat down at the table next and strangely enough, all seven of them were there. Piper looked at Annabeth - who was constantly straightening her plate and food - then at Percy - who was chewing on a finger nail and glancing around the cafeteria nervously.

Piper looks at her friends and asked, "So, how is everyone?" She was usually the one who started the conversations. Either her or Annabeth, Frank or Hazel. Jason, Percy and Leo were always silent unless they got on to a topic that they really enjoyed.

"I'm good, I guess," Hazel said. She shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Frank. He lifted his shoulders too and grumbled, "Same. What about you, Jason? I never got the chance to talk to you when I came to the room."

So Frank had been at the room. Jason had been having an anxiety attack.

Jason looked up, looking like a deer in the headlights. "What? Oh, um, yeah. I'm good. Percy?" The attention was suddenly dumped on Percy and Jason pushed his plate away, even though it was still full.

Percy finished chewing his food the said, "Yeah, I'm good. Life's just dandy." He glanced at Jason and Piper could tell he was concerned at the speed Jason pressed the conversation onto someone else. He did do that, but never that fast.

"Hey, Leo, what'd you do this morning after art? You just . . . Disappeared," Annabeth said. It wasn't uncommon for Leo to disappear in between activities. Normally he would wander off and then get stuck in a conversation with his imaginary friends and then no one would see him for hours.

Leo chewed on the inside of his cheek and hummed to himself. He seemed to be still trying to process what Annabeth had said. He was muttering senseless things to himself and making strange, snappy gestures with his hands.

"I don't really-no, you know. It's, um, it's a thing. Maybe it's the food. It's all in the food," Leo mumbled. He rocked back and forth. "I was busy. Very busy." The rest of them ate their food silently as they tried to make sense of what he was saying. His conversation kept springing around like a haywire rabbit.

Piper liked Leo. He had been the first one at the wards-way before any of the others came. Hazel said she came first after Leo and she said he'd been really funny when he took his medication.

About a week after Hazel, came Jason and Leo had taken a liking to the new guy. But Jason's first week at the wards had been really rough according to Hazel and he couldn't go a day without one, sometimes even two, anxiety attacks. Then Piper came after Annabeth (who had arrived after Jason) and apparently Jason's attacks started slowing down and he only had four a week maybe more maybe less. Usually more.

"Is Doctor McGuire going soft today?" Percy asked Frank; who had gone to the therapist that morning. Piper had a meeting with Dr. McGuire as well at the end of the day and she wasn't in the mood to be pried open.

"He's good today. I guess. Kind of like usual," Frank replied. He sent Percy a look, but the raven haired boy didn't see it. Piper read the look as 'jealousy', but she knew that Frank had a jealousy disorder so she didn't think much of it.

Leo's mutterings got louder and he fiddled with something in his pocket. Piper narrowed her eyes and was about to ask Leo what he had when he pulled it out and snapped a thumb across the top.

Hazel jumped away from Leo as a tiny flame appeared on top of the object. Piper's narrowed eyes widened to saucers and she cried out for a nurse as Leo lit his napkins on fire. Everyone at their table pushed back and the sound of their chairs screeching was painful in Piper's ears.

"Leo, where did you get that?!" Annabeth shrieked. The flames were illuminating in her stormy grey eyes and Percy was white as a ghost. Jason stayed on his chair, knuckles white as he gripped the seat. Frank grabbed Hazel's shirt and pulled her back from the burning table.

The world was muted, but Piper could see three men pulling Leo away, a woman patting out the flames with a fire blanket and someone else snatching up the discarded lighter from the floor. She watched the woman slip it into one of her pockets then move towards Percy-who was on the floor with his head pressed between his knees.

"Jason, are you okay?" Piper asked, tearing her eyes away from Percy's breakdown.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I might just go to my room for a bit. That's enough excitement for one day," he said in a forced light tone.

Thalia was suddenly by Jason's side, asking if he was alright. She held his head in her hands; a tactic Piper saw her use a lot when Jason got overly anxious or stressed, but he seemed fine surprisingly.

Piper let Thalia handle the situation and moved over to Annabeth, who was beside Percy, watching quietly. Piper swiftly dropped to the floor beside her friend and said, "Fire's a trigger?"

"I guess so," Annabeth said with a shrug.

Piper slid her eyes down to the floor on her left, right where the pocket the lighter was in was. She quickly checked to make sure the worker wasn't looking, but she was too busy trying to calm Percy down to notice as Piper slipped her hand into the pocket and pinched the lighter between her thumb and forefinger. She slowly pulled out of the pocket and wrapped her bony fingers around the cool object.

No one noticed.

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

_\- Shows great concern for Jason's anxiety_

_\- Weight gone up by three pounds, still much more improvements to make_

**_\- Dr. Henry McGuire_**


End file.
